Highlights from The Paley Center for Media Collection

Musicals on Television

As part of the seventh annual New York Musical Theatre Festival (www.nymf.org), The Paley Center for Media is pleased to present a sampler of Broadway musicals adapted for television.

October 2 1:00 pmMax Liebman Presents: Dearest EnemyTelevision adaptation of the 1925 Rodgers & Hart musical (which includes the hit song “Here in My Arms”) about a band of patriotic female colonists who are instrumental in helping to win the American Revolution. Starring Cyril Ritchard, Cornelia Otis Skinner, Anne Jeffreys, and Robert Sterling. (1955; 90 minutes)

October 91:00 pmMax Liebman Presents: Best Foot ForwardTelevision adaptation of the 1941 Hugh Martin-Ralph Blane “college musical,” set on the campus of Old Winsocki, where the boys prepare for the senior prom and a publicity-seeking movie star accepts a student’s proposal to attend the prom as his date. Starring Robert Cummings, Marilyn Maxwell, Jeannie Carson, Charlie Applewhite, and Pat Carroll. (1954; 90 minutes)

3:00 pm Producers' Showcase: Bloomer GirlTelevision adaptation of the 1944 Broadway show, set on the eve of the Civil War, with music by Harold Arlen and lyrics by Yip Harburg, book by Sig Herzig and Fred Saidy, choreography by Agnes de Mille, and starring Barbara Cook, Keith Andes, Carmen Mathews, Rawn Spearman, and Paul Ford. (1956; 90 minutes)

Following the screening, Bloomer Girl star Barbara Cook will be interviewed by Bill Rudman, host of the Sirius XM On Broadway program On the Aisle. Reservations are required for the October 9 Bloomer Girl screening and discussion. Free tickets available to Members on September 9; $10 tickets available to general public on September 15.

This event is presented with the support of the Yip Harburg Foundation.